I have no idea how this happened, but in the past day,
at least 57 posts have been inexplicably deleted from this blog. Most of the
articles were from the past two months, some throughout the past year. Either
way, this is a huge, disheartening blow that has me crushed.
I don’t run this site for a profit. I write about movies
because I love doing it. I take this blog seriously and I put a lot of time
into it. I don’t know if this hacking was random, calculated, or a complete
screw up on Google’s part. (Interesting, though, that WordPress appears to be
suffering a universal breach at this very moment.)
(Also interesting that most of my deleted posts were ones I
linked to Letterboxd yesterday, all of which I’ve since removed from that site.
But perhaps I’m reaching…)
There are workarounds. For one: password = changed. Blogger
saves every image you upload via Picasa, whether or not that image is currently
been displayed on your blog. So that’s hopeful. I have word documents for some
of the posts, but not many. But all of your comments (every one of which I
truly cherish), the flow of the blog (which I actively try to maintain), and
much more – all gone. So, basically, a tough day.
When it sunk in that a lot of my shit was gone, I was
tempted to take a break from blogging for a while. Fuck that. Instead, this is
a heads up that I’m going to be resposting some recent articles over the next
week or so. If you want to recomment,
it would mean the world to me. If not, I completely understand. Either way,
thanks to everyone who lent a kind word on Twitter earlier today, it meant a
lot. Just a hell of a thing, you know?
Bloody insane man. Glad that you aren't stopping though. Keep posting them bitchin' posts!
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks! I haven't been that upset in a long, long time.
DeleteStop, think, breathe, get shit done.
I have three words: what the fuck!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't imagine losing my posts, I haven't got any backups (maybe I should copy paste all my posts to word just in case) and this makes me a bit panicy now. I cherish my posts, as I'm sure we all do, as something special. Blogs are like our online diaries and having somebody take away our thoughts is simply cruel.
And I mean.. put them all back! Show 'em who's the man! Never Back Down might be a bad movie but it's title is brilliant!
Mettel Ray, you rock. Seriously, thanks for this comment.
DeleteWhile in the midst of my panic, a twitter follower told me to export my entire blog ASAP, which I didn't even know you could do. So I would highly recommend checking to see if you can do that in WordPress.
What you said about blogs being our diaries is so true. I've always treated this site as just that. No idea what someone would have to gain by deleting posts. But oh well, NEVER BACK DOWN indeed!
No, you rock!
DeletePS: I believe you can transfer things in WordPress as an archive. I once had this crazy idea to go over to Blogspot and looked up all those things and figured it was possible. Basically gonna do it right away in the morning, I'm a bit tired now and I ain't gonna mess around with transfer buttons when something can go horribly wrong. :D
Yeah good idea. So many possible BIG mistakes to make right there.
DeleteWow, man. That's a big loss. I'd be crushed if I lost any of my shit (most of which isn't even that good to begin with, honestly). And you? Your stuff is quality, through and through.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think I'd probably shut it down for a bit, I wholeheartedly commend you for pressing on. In all seriousness, good luck.
Thanks for all these kind words, my friend. But hold up, brother man, your shit is GOOD. I really do dig it, no bullshit.
DeleteEither way, gotta press on. Let it sting and carry on.
I am so sincerely sorry. I cannot even imagine how heartbroken you must feel. What a fucked up situation. I will cross my fingers that there is some sort of miracle where you log in tomorrow and all of your posts are back intact.
ReplyDeleteAww thanks so much, Jess! That's what I felt like: "Okay, if I log out/log in, they'll be here. No. Okay, try again. No." It was an awful couple of hours, but the only thing I can do is add them back. And so it begins... you know :)
DeleteMy intense paranoia of this sort of thing happening is why I keep virtually everything I write. I don't have a 100% archive, but I do have more than 95% sitting on my hard drive. I should probably make sure I have everything one of these days.
ReplyDeleteIt is disheartening, particularly because any blog like this is a labor of love rather than a labor of profit. You're exactly the person who shouldn't be hacked.
And while the hacker probably isn't reading this, just in case, Hacker--you are the reason we can't have nice things.
Ha, you tell 'em!
DeleteI used to save everything. Every word, every picture, all of it. But it became too much to keep track of. Time to start saving once again, no doubt.
Thanks for the comment my friend!
First of all this is just absolutely awful that something like this happens. Blogger has many flaws but at least it's not wordpress when it comes to security - if I had a blog on wordpress I'd probably back it up daily instead of monthly as I do now.
ReplyDeleteDid you contact google? Maybe it's just a bug? I don't see people mentioning having that problem so who knows, maybe they fucked up and it can be restored.
But if not I'll absolutely comment again on each article!
Thanks so much, Sati, if there's one thing I've learned here, it's that I definitely need to be backing my site up monthly.
DeleteI did contact Google, no word yet except an atuo reply. So we'll see. It really is amazing how many people have offered their help and support. So reaffirming.
Thanks again :)
So sorry this happened to you Alex! Curse hackers, man!
ReplyDeleteIf you need help finding / re-writing your posts again Google search the title of the article with your blog name. Click on the grey arrows, and then "Cached". The original post should show up.
When I deleted some of my posts but then decided I wanted them back, I did this and both text and images showed up. Here's a visual link of my tip: http://www.realcombiz.com/2013/02/restore-lost-blog-posts-or-pages-in-blogger.html. Hope this helped!
Thanks for all the helpful tips, Katy!
DeleteI had heard of the Cached trick, but couldn't get it to work. But a few people have helped me out and I think I have the hang of it now. Whew. And thanks for the link, I need all the help I can get!
Great! I'm happy the process can be made a little easier!! :)
DeleteAll that work, man. I feel your pain. Hopefully you'll be able to revive the posts/or Google will sort their shit out.
ReplyDeleteAs Nikhat said, either way, keep them posts 'a comin'!
Thanks dude! I'll tell you what, I've learned some damn valuable lessons today. Save, save, save.
DeleteGoddamn... that totally sucks ass. Fucking hackers. I had issues w/ them hacking into my email and had to change my password. One of them I realized was from Chile.
ReplyDeleteI hope you save some of your stuff as I wrote many of my posts on Word.
Fucking hackers indeed. I've changed my password to something so complex, I'm not even sure I'll remember it. Ha.
DeleteDefinitely saving my stuff from now on.
We got your back. Post and repost away!
ReplyDeleteThanks Teddy!!
DeleteYou went from 33 to 57?? WTF? Don't depend on that reply from Google. Most probably, it won't help. I lost few posts last year and they couldn't help me with anything(I only lost two. So it wasn't that big a deal. But this...) I hope you find few more posts cached like Eric found your Room 237 post.
ReplyDeleteHowever, most important thing is you are not stopping, Man! That would be much worse. All the Best! Rest assured, We'll be back.
Thanks so much, Shantanu.
Delete33 was my first estimate, 57 was my second, and now it seems to be topped out at 62. Christ. Eric and Katy's cached tip really saved me. I was able to get more than 85% of everything back, which is pretty awesome.
Can't stop, won't stop!
This is so awful, I'm so sorry! This is such a shitty thing to happen :( I'm glad you were able to get things back through cache though, I was going to suggest trying that until I saw this :)
DeleteYou can do eet! Can't stop, won't stop!
Thanks Ruth! Those cached stories saved me. I would've been gutted without them!
DeleteMan, I feel so bad for you. All that hard work, and it gets removed. Keep up the great work! Repost, and I'll be happy to comment again.
ReplyDeleteOh, and it's great that you got most of it back! There has to be a silver lining somewhere. :)
Thanks man, really appreciate that support.
DeleteExcelsior!
To echo everyone else, it really sucks that someone did this to you. Others have mentioned various things. What I've got won't help you with your current situation, but might help in the future.
ReplyDeleteI write every post in Word beforehand for a few reasons. It lets me use the more advanced word processing capabilities, it lets me keep drafts and track changes with a lot more ability, and it means I have an automatic backup in case the worst happens.
I've thankfully never had anyone hack me, but I did stupidly delete one of my own posts in the early days when I intended to delete a spam comment instead. I was able to go to my Word docs (numbered sequentially, then with text of the Title of my Post) and re-create the post. I save the pictures I use off into separate folders, so I don't have to rely on them still being at whatever source I originally found them at.
Hey Chip, thanks for stopping by and lending your support. I actually do write everything in Word, but my problem is that I don't save the Word files once I post. I did for years, but then it just got to be too much. Oh well, definitely saving EVERYTHING from here on out.
DeleteYou have a damn good system there - might need to follow it.
Oh man, that is terrible news. Losing work always zaps motivation, but please don't give up.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm all paranoid, going to backup my blog ASAP.
Anyone on Blogger should do this often just in case:
In your dashboard go to SETTINGS > OTHER > EXPORT BLOG and save the file somewhere safe.
Also, if you aren't already using it, i suggest turning on Google 2-step authentication for an added layer of protection.
Damn hackers.
I'm doing that right now. Thanks Bonjour.
DeleteHey Bonjour, thanks so much for the tip. A few friends recommended that I back everything up when all of this shit was going down. So I definitely plan on doing that monthly now. I never knew that was even a possibility.
DeleteAlso turning on Google 2-step now!
Dude, that's rough. I'm so, so sorry. Looks like things maybe won't be that bad in the end judging by a few comments up top so I hope that proves true. In any event, I like your attitude in the face of it all. "Fuck that."
ReplyDeleteFuck that indeed.
Thanks buddy. Everyone's support has really been incredible. I've learned so many new tricks on how to recover shit, back stuff up - crazy beneficial.
DeleteFuck. That!
Arghh! Not fair. If someone intentionally did this to you then fuck them. If it was a glitch then, wow, that's scary and messed up. If it was any other blogger that would be one thing, but I know you'll have a batch of great new material up soon. Don't sweat it.
ReplyDeleteThanks man, I really appreciate it! Gonna spend this whole weekend putting it all back!
DeleteOne last thing (and I know you've gotten a ton of suggestions already) - I write all my stuff in Google Docs these days. I usually edit the posts on the blog a bit before publishing, but at least it gives me rough - near final drafts at an alternate source. Good luck!
DeleteHmm, that is a good idea. Hadn't heard that one. Thanks man!
DeleteOh, that's horrible, I hope you'll get it back somehow! I guess we should all learn to write a doc with an article before posting it, to make sure it exists in at least 2 places! Sorry Alex!
ReplyDeleteYep, definitely saving all of my final drafts in Word from now on.
DeleteThanks for the support, D!
:( Aww, who in the world would do that? But you know, if someone's jealous or anything, it can't erase your movie knowledge, ahah... So, it won't affect followers or anything, at least.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's a great way to look at it :)
DeleteThey can never get into my head!
That makes me so sad that someone would do that to you! I'd cry. I hope Google can somehow fix it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was definitely a rough day yesterday, so many different emotions flowing through me.
DeleteDoesn't look like Google can do anything, but some people have offered me a lot of help, so I'm pretty much back on track! Thanks for your comment!
Damn...I'm a day late, but I think all of us who blog, have web sites and are part of this larger community absolutely feel your pain. If it helps, I'll plow through all the posts you've made since the last time I checked in (sadly not as often as I'd like).
ReplyDeleteGood on ya to push forward with a positive attitude.
Hey Bob, thanks so much for stopping by and lending your support. It really does mean a lot to me.
DeleteGotta push on, man. No use in bitching and moaning, just gotta keep writing!
I'm shocked to hear about your misfortunes Alex, just all adds to a week from hell. It's been crazy here in Boston these past few days and then I hear your own online problems, just not a good week. I certainly will re-comment on any thing you are able to retrieve, with wordpress they can preform a back-up of the entire site whenever you want, though now I may use word to backup now.
ReplyDeleteOn a higher note, I choose to do a definitive '50 movie moments that defined the 1950's' for Whatculture!.com and I was hoping to reference your '101' list for the 50's to help make it as thorough as possible. I'll be sure to cite your help in the piece. We'll keep on running here in Boston and you keep on writing, my friend.
Hey Jeff, thanks so much for the support man. It means a lot to me. I forgot you lived in Boston... I can't imagine what it's like there right now. Please do be careful and stay safe.
DeleteI'm honored that you'd use my list as a reference! Can't wait to read your list. Here's the link to mine incase you couldn't find it or something:
andsoitbeginsfilms.com/2012/09/101-cinematic-reasons-why-i-love-50s_18.html
Let me know when you post yours!
I realize this was a while ago now, but hope everything's going well with the blog man. Fucking sucks that this happened. Anyway, as you say, keep on rockin' and rollin' and producing awesome work, written or otherwise ;) haha
ReplyDeleteHey man, thanks for the comment. Christ, this was a dark goddamn day, whatta pain in the ass. Everything's back on track now, thanks again!
Delete